A profile of students with special needs who transitioned between Government of Alberta disability programs
Date
2019-10-18
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
PolicyWise for Children & Families
Abstract
The child to adult transition can be especially challenging for youth with disabilities. This report examined special needs service use patterns of Albertans with disabilities (15 to 23 years old) when they transitioned from child to adult disability supports during 2005/06 to 2010/11. Analyses focused on transition pathways between two support programs for youth with disability in Alberta: child disability supports (the Family Support for Children with Disabilities program) and adult disability supports (the Persons with Developmental Disabilities program). This report found that 6% of Albertan students with special needs received child disability services at some point between 2005/06 and 2008/09, 55% of whom (the majority of which had multiple disabilities) later transitioned to adult disability services at some point between 2005/06 and 2010/11. In contrast, 3% of non-child disability support students transitioned to adult disability supports in the same period. This report also found that special needs students with different transition patterns had different service use patterns. These findings provide policy-relevant evidence that service providers can use to improve transitions for youth with disabilities.
Description
This report describes how youth (15 to 23 years old) transitioned from childhood disability supports to adult disability supports using administrative data from 2005/06 to 2010/11.
Keywords
special education, disabilities, transition, big data, longitudinal, social services, health services, administrative data, data linkage
Citation
Child and Youth Data Laboratory. (2017). A profile of students with special needs who transitioned between Government of Alberta disability programs. Edmonton, AB: PolicyWise for Children & Families.